Spring Planting
Last year I missed planting season in Santa Cruz. I was in San Diego taking care of my new granddaughter. This year I started thinking about my spring garden before Christmas and purchased two metal horse watering troughs from a feed store. Two young strong friends drilled holes in the troughs and prepared them to be raised bed planters. They lay down 6 inches of gravel then lined them with weed-block cloth before filling them with new, rich planting mix. I didn’t invent those steps. We were following the suggestions made by Michelle Slatalla, in Steal This Look: Water Troughs as Raised Garden Beds. Thanks to Ella and and Carolyn, both troughs were ready to plant by February.
In early March I purchased five six-packs of bedding plants – pak choy, kale, lettuce, peas, and broccoli — and a half dozen packets of seed. I planted early and covered the baby plants with a row tunnel to keep them warm and safe from birds. The result? I am already harvesting salad greens, radishes, and stir-fry vegetables. I bought two tomato plants from the Farmer’s Market last week and they should begin bearing fruit in another month. This week my granddaughter and I soaked corn kernels to plump them up a bit. She plans to transplant them into peat pots inside a portable greenhouse. They’ll be ready to go into one of the trough beds in a month or six weeks. By then we will have eaten the rest of the pak choy and kale.
My kitchen herbs – thyme, marjoram, oregano, mint, sage, and rosemary – grow all year round, but I add a few annual herbs each year to add variety, and so far this spring I have set out basil, Italian parsley, coriander and pineapple mint. When I went out early this morning to feed the fish in my pond, I picked sprigs of bay, sage, thyme, marjoram and rosemary for a soup I plan to make for supper.
Spring Harvest – Kitchen Bounty
After a few hours of writing this morning, I went into the garden to pick my luncheon salad ingredients: 
Colorful Spring Salad
2 cups fresh salad greens
1/2 cup sliced white, yellow, and red radishes
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup halved fresh mozzarella balls
Wash the greens and pat them dry, then tear them into bite sized pieces. Cut ends off washed radishes and brush them clean, then slice thinly and sprinkle over the greens.
Follow with sliced onions, tomatoes and mozzarella balls.
Trickle 1 – 2 Tablespoons olive oil over salad (I like to use The True Olive Connection blood orange infused oil, but any really nice oil will work), then squeeze on the juice of one (or two if small) Meyer lemons and toss.
This makes one large individual serving. I ate my salad sitting on the porch overlooking my spring garden, soaking up the sun as it emerged from our morning fog. Nothing better.
Planting for the Summer Sun
After lunch, I returned to my planter boxes, picking off brown leaves and washing away some pesky aphids that had taken up residence in a kale plant.
Now that I had harvested a few radishes, there was more light getting to the tiny carrots sprouting up behind them. And I discovered a small patch of soil that wasn’t planted with anything, so I slipped in some more carrot seeds, which I’ll harvest after the first batch have been eaten, tiny and tender.
In the other planter, a couple of holes have opened up where I have harvested pak choy plants. One of them now houses a bell pepper, but the other one was perfect for seeding some more radishes. They grow quickly, so I will be able to harvest them before the kale and broccoli grow so large that they cover them with shade. Intensive planting like this is very efficient, but you have to think about the water and sun needs of each plant.
Supper Soup from the Garden
After such a productive day of writing and gardening, I was ready for a nourishing supper. I have invented a multipurpose soup base that takes almost no time to prepare, and I can add the main ingredients just before serving. Tonight I decided to make a fish chowder.
Sweet Potato Cod Chowder
Part I: Adaptable soup base
In 1-2 Tablespoons butter or oil, cook until tender:
1/2 cup white or yellow onion, chopped
1 medium pak choy – chop into 1/2 inch pieces; reserve leaves for later
(if desired, you can substitute 2 celery stalks, chopped)
2 medium carrots, scrubbed or peeled and cubed
2 – 4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 yam, scrubbed or peeled and cubed
Add one quart chicken or vegetable stock, 1 cup water, and 1 cup sherry or white wine
Add to the pot a handful of fresh herbs – I used what I had picked this morning: bay, sage, thyme, marjoram and rosemary – and some fresh ground pepper. You can add some salt to taste also, or do that just before serving.
Simmer covered for twenty minutes or more. Store, covered, in the refrigerator until needed. 
Part II: Key Ingredients
A half hour before serving, bring the stock back to a boil and remove the larger herb leaves, especially sage and bay. Add the reserved pak choy leaves (or chopped spinach or kale if you used celery) and 1 – 2 cups of cod pieces (I buy them frozen from Trader Joe’s, but you can use fresh or frozen cod and just cut it into 1-2 inch pieces). Simmer for ten minutes, until fish is white and flaky. Stir in up to a cup of plain yogurt, or 1/2 and 1/2, or 1/2 cup of creme fraiche. Salt to taste.
This hearty recipe makes four servings, and stores well in the freezer.
Part II Variations: Instead of making chowder, you can add cooked corn, beans, salmon, chicken or other meat to the soup base. You can also store it in the freezer, and add other ingredients later.
Bon Appetit!
What’s happening in your garden this spring? Please share your ideas and tips in the comment section below. If you’d like to receive updates to this blog as they are published, you may subscribe using the form provided.
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